She's Still The One: A Brother's Best Friend, Rockstar Romance Kaci Rose (essential reading txt) 📖

is spent almost the same way. Breakfast together before leaving to explore. On day two, we went into the small town nearby, and it was charming. Either they had no clue who I was, or they were being respectful, because we weren't approached once.

The town is small and built around a square park. We had fun taking in the shops, eating lunch, and catching a movie. One day, we came into town for brunch. We made another trip out to the waterfall, before we left, too.

Every night, we’d come back to the cabin and have dinner. I’d feed her, while she sat on my lap, and then we head to bed, where I’d make love to her, until we both passed out. If only we could stay in our bubble.

Today, we head home. We had finished packing up the cars and doing the final sweep of the cabin to make sure we didn't leave anything.

"Do we need to stop at the office on the way out?" I ask her.

"Nope, she said to leave the key on the counter and call, if we aren't gone by eleven." She says.

It's just after ten, so we are good.

"We’ll take it slow, and I’ll follow behind you," I say.

I hate the idea of having to drive back in separate cars, but it will be a good chance to call Landon, give him a heads up we are coming home, and take any anger he has for turning our phones off, before he lashes out at Austin.

As soon as we hit the road, I turn my phone back on and let it load. The most recent text from Landon catches my eye.

Landon: Austin's ex was outside the house. When I confronted him, he said he was waiting to talk to Austin. Cops can't do anything, because he was on the street.

Fuck. I hit the button to call Landon, as his voice fills the car over blue tooth.

"Took you long enough to call me back." He sounds irritated, but I can't blame him.

"We both turned off our phones. I just turned mine back on and saw your text. We’re on our way home now." I tell him. "What happened with Branden?"

"I saw him standing outside the gate on the camera, so I went to confront him. He keeps saying he wants to talk to Austin. I said she wasn't here, and that she left a few days ago, after we had a fight. He hasn't been back, and I'm hoping he thinks she won’t be back."

"Okay, well when we get closer, I'm going to call you and make sure he isn't there, because the last thing we need is for him to see her get home."

"Yeah, I thought he could be watching from a side street or the neighborhood gate. No way of telling. I almost debated having you guys stay away longer, but I think it's safest to get her home." Landon admits.

"You know we have to tell her. I don't want to scare her, but she has to know. She needs to be on alert."

"I agree," Landon says.

"Listen, I know we need to talk, and you’re probably still mad at me. That’s fine. But can we agree to put this aside for right now for Austin's sake and work on making sure she's okay?" I ask him.

He's quiet a moment, before he sighs.

"Yeah, I only want her safe, and I’ll do anything to make sure it happens." He says.

"Okay, she said you were looking into this guy. What have you found?" I ask.

"Nothing. That’s the problem. He doesn't exist."

"So, he was lying to her, which means he has something to hide. What's our next step?" I ask.

"The private investigator is trying some facial recognition software with pictures I sent him. I had to break into Austin's cloud storage to get them. She gave me the password years ago, but I've never used it. I don't know if she’ll be too happy, but I couldn't reach you guys."

"I’ll smooth it over. I would have done the same thing."

"The PI says the best thing is a fingerprint. If he’s running, he’ll probably be in the system, but I'm not sure how to manage that."

"Not without using Austin as bait, and I don't like that idea," I growl.

"Me either. I don't think we’re to that point yet. Also, have you heard from Dave? It's like after your meeting he's dropped off the planet."

"No, I wasn't in a rush to call him again. Have you tried Mitch?"

"Yeah, Mitch doesn't even know where he is. Oh, well. We need to meet about this label, so we can get away from all of them anyway."

"You still want to do this with me?" I ask.

"Of course, I do. I'm not happy about you and Austin, but you two are my family. I'm not turning my back on either of you."

I take a moment to compose myself. Those words mean more to me than he will ever know.

"I had an idea, and this is more for Austin than anything," I say.

"Lay it on me." He sighs, and I can tell he's lounging on the couch, his favorite place to talk on the phone. He always sighs like that, when he lies down.

"Austin and the receptionist at the label hit it off really well. I'd like to bring the receptionist over with us, so Austin has a friend and no reason to go back to the label."

"Deanna, right? She's always been nice, when I'm there. I'm good with that, but let's not talk to her, until we’re out of our contract. No need to ruffle feathers just yet."

"I agree."

We spend the next bit talking label stuff.

"Hey, I need to let you go. Austin is pulling into a gas station. I’ll talk to her about Branden. We’re about twenty minutes out." I tell him.

"Okay, stay safe."

This conversation with Austin could go one of two ways. Here's to hoping she trusts her brother and me to keep her safe.

Chapter 31

Austin

As soon